Chapter 449: Asking for a Job
"Fengnian's wife is a person with strong opinions and is pragmatic. She told Ruinian to go to the county and find an accountant so that he could earn money to support his studies. If the whole family had to support him, she would split the family, but Fengnian refused to agree to split the family... The clan leader even went there to make a fuss..."
Just as they were talking about Gu Fengnian's wife, Wei, she knocked on Tong Huaqiong's door.
Chen Sufen stopped there.
"Auntie, you're back."
Wei walked into the room under the moonlight, first congratulated Gu Jingzhe on his engagement, and then stated the purpose of his visit.
"This is the two taels of silver I borrowed from you last time."
Wei returned the two taels of silver to Tong Huaqiong.
Tong Huaqiong accepted it.
Wei touched her wrist and sighed, "Fortunately, my parents gave me a few pieces of jewelry as a dowry, and I used them as bracelets on my wrist."
Without waiting for Tong Huaqiong to reply, Wei said, "I am not here to complain to you, aunt. In addition to paying you back, I also want to get Yaojia into a private school."
Wei's bracelet was pawned for five taels of silver, and two taels were returned to Tong Huaqiong, leaving three taels.
She didn't want to give Gu Ruinian an advantage, so she took action in advance to get the Yao family into the private school.
Tong Huaqiong said: "It's fine for the Yao family to go to a private school, but I'll give them half of the tuition."
It must be said that Wei's timely repayment of the money brought Tong Huaqiong a wave of goodwill, but this goodwill only allowed the Yao family to be exempted from half of the rent.
After all, Wei belongs to the old house, and her interests are consistent with those of the old house at critical moments.
Wei said gratefully, "Thank you, Auntie."
After a pause, he continued, "I followed Fengnian to Qinghewan on impulse, thinking that I could make a living by farming, and then I could think of other things in the future. I didn't expect that the land at home was pitifully small, and it was difficult to make ends meet. Ruinian didn't work, and my father-in-law's business failed and he never recovered. Fengnian is incompetent, and I don't know how the whole family, young and old, will make a living. I'm thinking of going to town to find a job after a while, but I don't know if I need a woman."
Wei is very smart.
It's just a little too eager.
Everyone in Qinghe Bay knew that Tong Huaqiong had many female workers in her shop and fields. The reason why Wei said this was simply because she hoped that Tong Huaqiong would take the initiative to ask her for a job.
She can work at either Taohua Dessert or pig farm, but it would be best if she could be a waiter at Taohua Dessert.
She had greeted customers in the shop when she was at her mother's house, and she was very familiar with the process.
The attitude of the old lady towards the Yao family and her was different from that of other people in the old house. Last time she borrowed money, the old lady was also very straightforward. This gave her the illusion that Tong Huaqiong was easy to talk to, and she felt that this time she would definitely be able to get the job.
She came with confidence.
Tong Huaqiong saw through Wei at a glance.
It’s not that Tong Huaqiong didn’t want to help Wei, but she was afraid that giving Wei a job easily would make people in the old house uneasy.
You know, just two months ago, the people in the old house wanted to take over Tong Huaqiong's shop.
At that time, Wei didn't say a single fair word for her.
Now I want to come to Tong Huaqiong's house to work, but I don't say it directly. I hope Tong Huaqiong will take the initiative to speak up.
This Wei family does have some calculations.
Tong Huaqiong is not a combination of a fool and a saint.
Wei waited for a long time but Tong Huaqiong didn't speak, so she became anxious and said, "Madam, do you think I should go out and find a job?"
Tong Huaqiong looked at Wei and said, "You have a good idea. If you look carefully, you will find one. I heard that some families in this town need a cook or a maid, and some need a wet nurse. Being a maid is more suitable for you. You can come and go freely and go home every day."
This is different from what Wei thought.
Wei forced a smile, gritted her teeth and made her purpose clear, saying, "Madam, if your shop needs anyone, I can do anything for you."
Tong Huaqiong thought to herself, why didn’t you say you wanted a job at the beginning?
Tong Huaqiong said: "No need."
There was no need to be polite with the Wei family.
Wei was stunned, and quickly asked anxiously, "Where's the pig farm?"
Tong Huaqiong said simply: "Not necessary."
Only then did Wei realize that it was not that Tong Huaqiong did not need people, but that she did not need people from the old house.
After leaving Tong Huaqiong's yard, Wei felt dazed.
The lady refused so straightforwardly.
But she didn't have any complaints. She was just trying to be clever in front of Tong Huaqiong, so it was normal for her to be rejected.
Just like Tong Huaqiong's view of Wei, she is a pragmatic person.
Just because Tong Huaqiong rejected her this time doesn’t mean she will reject her next time.
Since she wants to drink soup with the eldest wife, she must show her sincerity.
After returning home, Wei told Gu Fengnian that she wanted to divide the family business.
Wei mentioned this many times, and Gu Fengnian refused every time.
He is the eldest son of the second wife. If the family is divided, what will outsiders think of him? He will be accused of being unfilial. How can he survive in Qinghe Bay?
He never thought of splitting up the family.
Wei said angrily, "What do outsiders think? Why do you care what outsiders think? They don't give you money to spend. Look at your aunt, don't outsiders say she is unfilial? Isn't it delaying her from getting rich? Isn't it delaying her from being named a county lady by the emperor? If we don't separate, we will all be making wedding clothes for Ruinian for nothing."
Gu Fengnian was most afraid that Wei would mention Gu Ruinian.
Although Gu Fengnian was dissatisfied with Gu Ruinian's failure in the imperial examination, he still believed that they were brothers who loved each other and were inseparable, and as an older brother he should be tolerant of his younger brother.
Now that his own son also has to go to school, he doesn't want to hear Wei say bad things about Gu Ruinian anymore.
"Don't say that. I can't possibly split up the family. Also, Rui Nian is my brother and he respects you very much. As the eldest sister-in-law, don't always sow discord between us brothers."
After saying this, Gu Fengnian went to Grandpa Gu’s room.
Wei felt a pain in her chest from holding it in.
She was devoted to her own family, but in the man's eyes, she became the one who caused discord between the brothers.
Wei was extremely disappointed with Gu Fengnian.
During dinner in the evening, Wei announced a major news at the table.
Her son Gu Yaojia is about to attend a private school.
"Why are you so selfish? With the current situation at home, how can we afford to support one more person to go to school? Where will the money come from?" Jia said dissatisfiedly.
Wei had a smile on her face. She had already told her family that her Yao family wanted to study, but they didn't take it seriously and thought she was joking.
"Don't worry about the money. I pawned the bracelet on my hand." Wei said.
Jia and Old Madam Gu were very dissatisfied that such a big matter was not discussed with the family.
Shouldn’t the pawn money be given to Gu Ruinian first?
Old Lady Gu said, "Yaojia is still young, and it will take him many years to finish school, unlike Ruinian who is already a student."
Wei said: "Some people have been taking exams all their lives but still remain a student, so our family cannot pin our hopes on one person."
Gu Ruinian's hand holding the chopsticks trembled. His sister-in-law was cursing him.
This woman is so selfish and short-sighted.
Gu Ruinian endured it again and again, and couldn't help but said: "Sister-in-law, you don't have to say that. If you don't believe me, you can look at my test results next year."
Wei said, “You said the same thing this year.”
Gu Ruinian was speechless.
He wished that Gu Fengnian would divorce this woman.
In this era, studying requires tuition and writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstone, which is a considerable expense for a farming family. Yaojia's study means that half of the resources that the family has devoted to supporting him will go to Yaojia.
He was naturally angry.
Seeing that things were not going smoothly at the dinner table, Old Man Gu glanced at them with a dignified look and said, "Since the Yao family is allowed to study, then let them study. We will continue to provide Ruinian with his books."
Wei wondered where the money came from.
Mr. Gu sighed, took out a tael of silver, handed it to Gu Ruinian and said, "Use this silver to buy books."
Gu Ruinian accepted it.
He didn't even ask Mr. Gu where the money came from.
Naturally, this money was borrowed by Mr. Gu from Gu Dashu.